Jazz Jackrabbit is a platform game developed and published by Epic MegaGames. It was released in 1994 for PCs operating DOS, with subsequent Macintosh and Microsoft Windows releases in 1995 and 1996. It was one of the first games to bring the side-scrolling platformer style - common on gaming consoles - to a PC audience. Jazz Jackrabbit, developed in the Netherlands where Arjan Brussee then lived and in Cliff Bleszinski's mother's house, was greatly inspired by the Amiga game Zool and the ongoing success of video game classics (such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man) defining the platform game genre in the 1990s market, and was initially considered to be a pastiche of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog in the computer world. The game did not manage to reach the popularity of Sonic, but did acquire a certain fan audience due to its fast-paced gameplay, advanced graphics and notorious acid jazz level soundtracks. In 1995, PC Format magazine named Jazz Jackrabbit "Arcade Game of the Year". Two other releases originated from it: a sequel named Jazz Jackrabbit 2 in 1998, as well as a reboot on Game Boy Advance in 2002. The commercial success of the game kickstarted the career of its co-creator, Cliff Bleszinski, who would later go on to be a key force behind Epic Games' blockbuster hits Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, among other titles.

The game is set in a fantasy world based on Aesop's "The Tortoise and the Hare", in which the enmity between tortoises and hares continues even after three thousand years. An evil mastermind tortoise named Devan Shell begins conquering planets, suppressing any native confrontation. One of such planets, Carrotus, is home to a peaceful hare kingdom that, once confronted by Shell, is able to provide enough resistance to fend him off. Enraged by his loss, Devan decides to kidnap Carrotus princess Eva Earlong and hide her on a distant airbase of unknown location to weaken the hares. In response, the king chooses to send Carrotus' hero Jazz Jackrabbit, who carries a blue LFG-2000 gun, to various planets conquered by Devan that might contain clues to the location of Eva's imprisonment. As Jazz travels through different worlds, he gains new weapons and meets new enemies in his pursuit to rescue the princess and save Carrotus from Devan Shell and his army of Turtle Terrorists. Jazz is depicted as a bright green jackrabbit with a red bandana, bracers and a blue "blaster" gun that he never loses the hold of.